Alright was looking for some input on a computer monitor, I need one. It looks like after reading the 2 big ones are lcd flat panels, and old crt monitors. I could realy care less about the weight or size of the monitor so its looking like an older model might be plenty, i have read that some lcd monitors have a dvi input? What is that? does it have something to do with high def.? Im looking at 19-21" dont want anything to much smaller. I also read that alot of people focus on what resolution the monitor makes. I will prob. use the monitor for minor game playing, i would guess that would be were a high res. would help but i dont know. Anyways help me out guys. Any good brands to look out for or more importantly NOT look out for. Thanks

While LCD's have been getting better and better, and cheaper and cheaper you might be able to get a CRT that looks better for the same or less money. The killer with a CRT will be shipping, if you didn't buy it locally. A little less than 2 years ago I went from dual 19" CRT's to one 19" LCD, primarialy to save space. While the LCD is a tad brighter, it still doesn't equal the color accuracy of the old CRT.

Having said that, if you do buy an LCD, get one with the DVI connection. It is very important at higher resolutions, for better image quality. Just make sure that your computer has one of these as well, you can get an adapter, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

It doesn't look like they have any great deals right now, but Dell often has some good deals on their LCD's which are some of the best out there. If you keep your eye on slickdeals.net or any of the "bargain hunting" web sites these deals pop up pretty often.

What screen size and resolution do you use now?

My problem with non-laptop LCD's is there are not enough pixels per inch. 19" LCs' are generally 1280x1024 which is huge compared to my 19" CRT (18" viewible) @ 1600x1200.

(2) 17" LCD's @ 1280x1024 for under $300 would be what I recommend. sometimes you can even find a decent 19" under $150ea. CRT's are still better IMHO for image quality, but the weight, size are not worth the cost delta these days.

Dell does often have great deals on their LCD's and their DVI LCD line (xx07 models) is probably the best value on the market. Good enough for most gamers.

DVI is a type of input (cable) that provides a better signal. You need a video card that supports it which can be had for under $50 as well. Dual DVI is more costly. Any monitor that supports DVI also supports the standard D-sub as well, but you'll notice the quality if you switch between the two type of cables.

Originally posted by APT:

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What screen size and resolution do you use now?

My problem with non-laptop LCD's is there are not enough pixels per inch. 19" LCs' are generally 1280x1024 which is huge compared to my 19" CRT (18" viewible) @ 1600x1200.

(2) 17" LCD's @ 1280x1024 for under $300 would be what I recommend. sometimes you can even find a decent 19" under $150ea. CRT's are still better IMHO for image quality, but the weight, size are not worth the cost delta these days.

Dell does often have great deals on their LCD's and their DVI LCD line (xx07 models) is probably the best value on the market. Good enough for most gamers.

DVI is a type of input (cable) that provides a better signal. You need a video card that supports it which can be had for under $50 as well. Dual DVI is more costly. Any monitor that supports DVI also supports the standard D-sub as well, but you'll notice the quality if you switch between the two type of cables.

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I concur, my brother gave me his old 15 inch LCD he bought when the LCD monitor was new, its a Samsung Syncmaster 151P designed by FA Porsche. It has an option to run off VGA or DVI, so I have two computers pluged into it. when I switch back and forth I can see the DVI is considerably crisper then the VGA, the monitor only runs at 1024x768. But thats plenty enough for me, plus the higher the resolution monitor, the more power you need to run games at that resolution.